In HoopsHype’s rankings of expected production for the 2025-26 NBA season, the Houston Rockets have Fred VanVleet at No. 17 among point guards and Amen Thompson at No. 7 among shooting guards.

They’re even higher than that at small forward, and it’s largely why the Rockets have emerged as a championship contender.

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Kevin Durant, who earned his 15th career All-Star honor last season, checks in at No. 2 on the small-forward rankings. HoopsHype’s explanation:

For how much things change in the NBA, sometimes, they also stay the same, and these next two players are a great example of that. Even with the NBA’s always-shifting strategies based on analytics, somehow, someway, Kevin Durant and LeBron James remain the best small forwards in basketball, in our estimation.

Last season, Durant was one of just six players to put up a 26/6/4 stat line, and did so while shooting an astronomical 43 percent from three. According to VORP and BPM, Durant was roughly a Top 30 player in the league.

Can he still be the best player on a championship team? We’re about to find out, as Durant joins a strong Houston team replete with players that have either championship experience like Fred VanVleet, or have loads of promise like Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun.

Joining a well-rounded team with toughness and skill on both ends of the floor, if Durant is still an All-NBA-level player and a ceiling raiser for a team, he should be able to prove it in 2025-26… as he won’t be forced to endure as much of the two-way load as he did with the Phoenix Suns.

The only small forward ranked ahead of Durant is James, and the two future Hall of Famers will face off on Christmas Day in a primetime showdown between the Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Houston (52-30) and Los Angeles (50-32) finished as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in last season’s Western Conference standings, and both teams are hopeful of more growth in 2025-26 amid the first full season of Luka Doncic with the Lakers and Durant’s recent arrival in Houston.

More: HoopsHype rankings: Rockets star Amen Thompson at No. 7 among NBA shooting guards

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: HoopsHype ranks Houston’s Kevin Durant second among NBA small forwards